Pride: Book 1 of The Insanity Series
by Spottedeyes
Summary: Pride is a powerful word. Everyone has it from the moment they take their first breath, to the time when they take their last. Pride can be helpful and destructive. It's up to each soul to decide what their pride is going to do. (Rewrite of Original, idea by KatieK101).


Prelude:

The air was cool and quiet as it floated through the black sky. Dim lights flickered from the few stars that speckled the moonless night. Ghostly marsh grasses sprouted from the ground accompanied by the occasional lilly flower. The smell of stale rain and a Thunderpath still hung in the air, comforting the lone soul breathing it in.

A pale gray she-cat sat crouched in the grass, stars staining her pelt. Her blue eyes were cloudy, hazed with an inner plight she'd suffered for moons and moons. She would examine her paws frequently, some anger seeping into her gaze as though it was all their fault. It didn't matter that they had carried her away from a perfectly salvageable life, because she told them to pad away from everything that was worth living for. Her paws were the death of her. She left _them_ , and it was all their faults, her paws.

She didn't feel like she deserved to be there in Silverpelt, watching her former clanmates live out their lives without her, so she created a new realm for herself. If she couldn't go to the Dark Forest, then she'd make her own. Even still, she felt she deserved worse than this petty isolation in a marshland she dreamed up.

Nothing ever changed in her new world. It always smelled like rain mixed with Thunderpath, there was never any wind, never any actual rain, never was there prey, and there was no sound. It was a phantom marsh, and that's what she felt she deserved. No thrills of hunting, no more feeling gales of wind brush through her pelt, and certainly no other souls to talk to. She was a monster, and monsters didn't go to StarClan.

Sometimes the temptation to see how her old clanmates and family were doing would try to draw her out of hiding to sneak a peek. Just one peek. But she couldn't, she destroyed them. No one would want to know she walked among them, watching them trot through the territory, purring and sharing tongues. It wasn't fair to them.

Of course, sometimes her brother and father would try to break into her ghost marsh to see her, but she would close them both out. They didn't really want to see her, they just thought they did. Lately though, she'd been left to her own misery without their intrusions.

She would brood to herself, think about her ambitions as a ShadowClan cat, the very ambitions that destroyed her. The pale she-cat was so desperate to become the youngest, most efficient leader in clan history, that she ruined the lives of everyone around her. She pushed away everyone to help climb the ladder. If she had just been patient, everything would have fallen into place. Instead, she acted horribly childish, and it backfired.

The lithe StarClan cat hissed at herself, feeling a strong sense of self-loathing powerful enough to let her mental barrier down. She felt them before she saw them; her marsh had been infiltrated. She tried to force them out before they found her, whoever they were, but they were mentally stronger than her. They could defy her wishes of eternal solitude, how she believed it was meant to be until she faded from memory and disappeared forever.

It wasn't long before two other StarClan cats appeared before her, both familiar faces to her. An old friend who's spirit was older than hers, and another whom the she-cat had been close to for the majority of her life. She didn't bother to hide the surprise on her face when she saw her close friend. One whiff and she could tell he had just died recently.

She watched them both suspiciously, but the younger soul held her attention more so than the older one. Before she could speak, the StarClan cat began speaking, his voice soft. "She's calling for you."

The pale she-cat barely acknowledged his words, her focus trained entirely on the newer member of StarClan. "When did you die? How?" She demanded, rising to her cursed paws for the first time in moons.

The younger spirit shook his head in disapproval, but answered nonetheless, "It happened yesterday, I went the same way as you. Only I did it on accident." He said bitterly, eyes misty with unmasked hurt.

A low growl rumbled in the back of the she-cat's throat, her ears flattening to her skull. "You think I wanted to go that way? No, I didn't. I wasn't in my right mind, he drove me to do it!" She spat angrily, swatting at her old friend only for her paw to slice thin air.

"There is no physical pain in StarClan, but I bet you already know that." He rumbled coldly, unphased by her violent outburst.

"But there is psychological pain. I have an eternity to think about how I messed everything up." She countered.

He purred humorlessly, "Oh, you messed everything up alright, and now you've locked yourself up in a chamber so no one can remind you, so you can play martyr. You don't know just how much pain you put me through when I came up here. How much it hurt to know that you weren't with me at all while I was still alive, how you weren't watching over us. How you weren't the one to walk me to the stars."

Before the she-cat could retaliate, the older spirit put himself in between her and the other tom, his muscles rippling beneath his pelt. He glared at the youngest StarClan warrior, "You promised you wouldn't do this. You say it hurt that she wasn't there to guide you to StarClan, but now you're keeping me from saving another cat from this pain."

This made the other tom go silent. Satisfied with his words, the older spirit looked to her, "She's asking for you, your mother. For days, she's just been pleading for you to take her up here. Not your father, not your brother, you. She wants you. It's time to come out and do your duty as a StarClan cat."

She rolled her eyes to drown out the surge of pride that ripped through her, forcing herself to lay back down as she had been from the moment her phantom marsh was birthed. "I am no StarClan cat, I belong in the Dark Forest and we all know it."

The eldest StarClan cat flicked his tail in annoyance, "She's your mother. You haven't done anything for your remaining family, you know that? You never walked the ShadowClan marshes with your former clanmates, never sat beside them to visit while they shared tongues and ate their prey, never helped to guide your lost and sad family because you were being stubborn and sitting here. She's dying, and who takes you to the sky is important. If your mother wants you to be her guide, then you have no right to deny her of that, not after all she's done for you."

"What? Abandon me? Lie to me? Yeah, she's done a heck of a lot." She muttered with a light, airy sigh as she attempted to sound carefree.

As the pale she-cat spoke, it was clear the newest StarClan member was losing his temper. She wasn't surprised when he managed to hold his tongue; he was always very level-headed.

"She gave up everything for you!" The older cat snarled, "How can you be so selfish?"

The she-cat gave a slight shrug, "Plenty of practice does the trick."

"I am at a loss for words," he said, "Your mother needs you, and you're not going to step up?"

"No." She said firmly, inwardly sighing in relief when she didn't falter. She was a monster, and monsters didn't show remorse. Fetching her mother would be like apologizing, besides, she would have to leave the world she created for herself, face the cats she'd grown up around. Friends, family, enemies, the works. She wanted none of it.

To her surprise, the older StarClan warrior turned tail on her and strode out of her world without another word. The other, however, stared at her a moment longer before uttering another phrase, "I hope you suffer forever."

She purred sadly, "Your wish is my command."

A slight flicker of hope shone in his eyes, "It doesn't have to be this way. I'm dead now, we can make up, you can visit ShadowClan with me and live in StarClan by my side. We don't have to leave it like this."

"Fate spoke when I was allowed to do what I did, my friend. I made the choice to leave ShadowClan forever. Going back, now that would just be an insult to my pride." She said, staring with resentment at her paws once more.

His eyes dimmed and he spoke bitterly, "I should've known. My words still stand, I hope you suffer."

"I will, I promise you. For the time I am remembered, I will suffer."

He nodded, "I know. I've made sure that you will never be forgotten, you deserved that much."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

 **Hey! So if you haven't noticed, I've been slumped with the original version of 'Pride'. I reread what I wrote and I have to say that I am thoroughly appalled by my sloppy changes in writing throughout the story, so… rewrite! Because I feel that this story plot is too good to just toss away, and besides, this wasn't even mine originally (It's KatieK101's) so that's not fair to just quit when she let me have it. Hope you like the rewrite so far, I'll do my best to get another chapter up soon so you're not just with this weird prelude! Thanks!**

 **~Spotty**


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